Concrete Jungle

by Bob Marley & The Wailers

Cite This Source

Concrete Jungle Introduction

"Concrete Jungle" may not be the most famous or celebrated Bob Marley song of all time, but it played a special role in the history of reggae music: this was the first song on the first album (Catch A Fire, 1973) that really broke reggae to international audiences outside Jamaica.

When you listen to the distinctive first notes of "Concrete Jungle," slowly building towards an eruption of the now-famous reggae "one drop" rhythm, you're literally hearing the sounds that transformed reggae from a local Jamaican curiosity into a global pop phenomenon. At the same time, the internationalization of reggae embodied by "Concrete Jungle" began to change the music itself (check out that screaming rock guitar solo!).

The resulting transnational sonic mix helped transform Bob Marley into an international superstar. So forward the bass and bathe yourself in the sounds of globalization booming from your sound system; "Concrete Jungle" was the original anthem of "reggae gone outernational" and neither Jamaican music nor international pop would ever be quite the same again.

Marley's "Concrete Jungle" is, at heart, the cry of the sufferers trapped in Kingston's deadly cycle of violence. At the same time, though, the song speaks in a universal language of metaphor that has made it just as powerful to listeners in England or America or India or Japan. How does "Concrete Jungle" share powerful symbolism and imagery with the Bible or Shakespeare's Macbeth? Read on and find out…

On the Charts

Catch A Fire, the first commercially successful reggae album, peaked at #171 on the Billboard North America Pop Albums chart in 1973. It also reached #51 on what was then called the Black Albums chart in the US.

Catch A Fire ranks #123 on Rolling Stone's list of the Top 500 Albums of All Time.